Earlier this year, Mike Brady (67) was diagnosed with bowel cancer. Mike is sharing his story to encourage other people to make informed decisions about their health and bowel screening.
Mike, a father two from Midleton in Co. Cork, is no stranger to BowelScreen. When he did the home test this year, it was his fourth BowelScreen test since he turned 60.
He had no reason to believe the result would be anything other than the normal result he had previously. “I had absolutely no symptoms at all,” says Mike. “I was out and about walking six or seven kilometres a day.”
Within two weeks of doing the test, he got a phone call from the BowelScreen unit at Cork University Hospital (CUH) inviting him to come for a colonoscopy. This is the follow-up test that is offered to people who have done a BowelScreen home test and had a result that showed ‘not normal’.
“A BowelScreen Clinical Nurse Manager went through the results very clearly with me,” says Mike. “He explained in great detail how everything was going to work. I asked quite a few questions, about how the colonoscopy procedure worked. I even asked, ‘Is this going to be a good or bad outcome for me?’ Obviously, he couldn't answer that but speaking to him put my mind at ease. He met me in CUH the morning before the colonoscopy, which was great as well.”
Following the colonoscopy, Mike’s consultant told him that there was a growth that would need more investigation. Mike says he was shocked and upset, but that the staff put his mind at ease.
“Following a CT scan and an MRI scan, I was told it was a sigmoid rectal cancer,” says Mike. “I was recommended for surgery, and because of the location I was told I could end up with a stoma bag. They wouldn’t know until the surgery whether the bag would be temporary or permanent.
“As you can expect, I was concerned by all this. I said to the doctor ‘I'm feeling good. I have no symptoms. What happens if I don't have any surgery?’ She said it was a fair question but said I could end up with a blockage in my bowel. That could lead to an unplanned emergency operation and the cancer could also spread. I decided to go ahead with the operation.”
Before surgery, Mike had an appointment with a nurse who measured him for a stoma bag. The nurse measured two locations on his torso: one on the left and one on the right. “If the stoma bag was on the left side, it was probably going to be permanent; if it was on the right, it was going to be temporary,” says Mike. “When I woke up after the surgery, I put my hand down to see what side the stoma bag was on, and it was on the right. That was a great confidence boost for me.”
Mike had robotic surgery which, he says, quickened his recovery. He was told his cancer had been contained within the bowel; it hadn’t spread to the prostate or liver, which had been a worry for him. He didn’t need chemotherapy or radiation because the cancer had been found so early.
“I cannot get over how fast it went for me,” says Mike, “from the day I had the colonoscopy on 11 July, to surgery on 18 August. I put that down to everything being in the one place through BowelScreen in CUH. Everything worked so smoothly. I've been looked after extremely well.”
Mike is one of the first patients to go through the recently opened BowelScreen endoscopy service at CUH. “I got to know the team and where to go to, and even where to park. That convenience and reliability gave me confidence. I would go in for an appointment at 12pm and be seen by 12.20pm.”
Mike was so pleased with his BowelScreen experience that he decided to become an advocate for the screening programme. “I'm happy to give back by telling my story,” he says. “I’ve been so lucky.”
At first, Mike didn’t tell many people about his treatment but later started telling friends and neighbours. “Now, some of those people have said to me they got the test kit and completed it,” he says. “That’s purely after talking to me and hearing my story. It's really important and great to hear. Please take the test.”
- We’ve made it easier for people to take part in BowelScreen. People can now request their home-test kit online when they are invited to take part for the first time. BowelScreen is for everyone aged 58 to 70 who have no symptoms of bowel cancer.